Cold Wave Sweeps Across Large Portion of East Coast

Bitter cold and snow held much of the Atlantic Coast in an icy grip again Tuesday, sending the mercury plunging below zero in New England and icing roadways as far south as Virginia.

Early morning temperatures in Maine hit 29 degrees below zero, and the afternoon was only marginally better with readings in the low teens. Residents of Connecticut and Vermont also shivered in sub-zero morning cold.

A record low of 2 below zero was recorded at Windsor Locks, Conn., while Atlantic City, N.J., tied a record at 10 degrees.

In Nottingham, N.H., a fire in the cellar of a rural home that was under construction killed a 6-year-old girl and her parents when they became trapped after their escape door froze shut, authorities said.

A rescue worker said the fire started Monday night when the father used gasoline to try to start a wood stove located in the “cellar hole” where the family was living.

Frosty temperatures also plagued the Mid-Atlantic states and the upper Southeast on Tuesday, with lows dipping to 5 degrees in some areas. Light snow and sleet pelted most of West Virginia early Tuesday, with lows reaching into the teens.

A dusting of snow also hit parts of New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Rain and sleet were reported in portions of Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, making the morning commute difficult in Richmond, Va., where iced-over bridges caused several accidents.

The icy weather already had damaged early-blooming fruit trees in orchards from Pennsylvania into the Southeast. About 5,000 acres of North Carolina peach trees had bloomed three weeks early because of recent unseasonable warmth. The threat to Pennsylvania’s $15-million peach crop and the state’s apple harvest, the nation’s fifth largest, was intensified by the abrupt turnaround from temperatures in the 60s last week.

A cold front moving into the Midwest and Great Lakes states early Tuesday chilled that region of the country, bringing snow and temperatures ranging in the mid-20s. Upper Michigan reported snow and blowing snow at Sault Ste. Marie, Marquette and Houghton, while Gwinn had freezing drizzle.

Snow also was reported in Wyoming, Nebraska, western Kansas and northern New Mexico.

A high-pressure system gave the South generally fair and chilly weather, but a cold front was pushing clouds and possible showers into the region. Low temperatures ranged from 28 at Knoxville, Tenn. to 37 in Charleston, S.C.